


A Hero's Date

by Some_Dude



Category: Final Fantasy VII, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Bittersweet, Bittersweet Ending, F/M, Love, True Love, Wholesome, hand holding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 20:58:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 2,203
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303708
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Some_Dude/pseuds/Some_Dude
Summary: Zack finally gets that date he promised himself





	1. Chapter 1

       Aqua opened her eyes, blinded by the bright light around her. As her eyes adjusted she, scanned the area around her. She was in a large open area, surrounded by tall stone buildings, supported by gold trimmed pillars. She blinked a few times, trying to make sure this wasn’t an illusion. The city looked vaguely familiar, but the last thing she could remember she was still in the realm of darkness. She looked around for anyone to ask what was going on, but the city was completely empty. She could not sense any living organism nearby, so she decided to explore the city to find out what was going on.

       As she walked through the city she passed stalls, and large statures of men in powerful poses. Just then she heard a cry in the distance. She turned down the side street next to her, and the sound got louder. She weaved through side streets heading towards the noise. She could hear it clearly now, a loud cheering noise in the distance. She turned the corner and recognized where she was immediately. In front of her was a long staircase. At the top of it was two large statures of gladiators, mid fight over a large stone doorway. The Coliseum.

       “No...” Aqua said weakly. “Was this world consumed by the darkness as well?” she asked aloud to no one. Just then another cheer went up from the crowd. Aqua bound up the stairs, determined to get to the bottom of what was going on. The huge door to the coliseum was already open and Aqua ran inside, warry the whole thing may be a trap or a trick played on her mind by the realm of darkness. Inside the entrance there was still not a soul, yet the cheering rang out even louder. She ran down the narrow corridor to the open arena. 

       As she emerged from the darkness of the corridor that connected the two areas she made out a single figure in the arena. He was mid leap, spikey black hair blowing in the wind, large sword raise over his head. He crashed the sword down on some barrels in front of him, shattering them to pieces. Just as he did a large alarm blared, and the crowd went ecstatic. “New record” an announcer said. The figure raised his sword in the air, raising more cries from the crowd. The figure then jerked up and turned around, likely sensing Aqua. Aqua was about to summon her keyblade when she recognized the figure.   
“Is that you… Zack?”


	2. Chapter 2

       The crowd continued to cheer as Zack saw Aqua and excitedly rushed over to her. “Is that you Aqua? Didn’t think I would see you so soon!” Zack said excitedly, running up and stopping just in front of her. He was taller than Aqua remembered, she had to look up to see his face. He had lost his childish look and air, and felt confident and mature. He had grown quite muscular, and fit well into his tank top and shoulder pads that showed off his arms. 

       “Zack, was this world also consumed by darkness?” she asked Zack. 

       His smile flashed away for a second. “That’s… not exactly it” he said reaching up and scratching the back of his head.

       “Then where are we?” she pushed further.

       A serious look came over him. He was quite for a moment, it was clear thoughts were racing through his mind. He then suddenly seemed to arrive at his conclusion. 

       “If you can beat me in a match, I’ll tell you whatever you want. But if I win… you have to do one thing I ask.”

       It was clear to Aqua that Zack was just messing around, likely meaning there was no immediate danger. She had no way to force the answer out of Zack, much as she wanted to know, so she had no choice but to accept his conditions. “Fine. I agree. What do you want?”

       Zack lit up at her response. “I’ll tell you once I win” he responded, heading back to the center of the arena. Aqua followed with a sigh. Boys could be so full of themselves. She stepped up on to the raised platform in the middle of arena and looked at Zack. She summoned Master Eraqus’ keyblade and took up a fighting stance as he did the same. He was grinning from ear to ear. 

       “I have been itching for a rematch since the last time we fought!” He shouted at her.

       “I’ll beat you just as I did before!” Aqua yelled back.

       “Challenger Aqua vs. Champion Zach 3… 2… 1…” the announcer counted down.

       “FIGHT!” he said, and the crowd erupted into cheers.


	3. Chapter 3

        Aqua ducked as Zack’s blade flew over her head. He had been on the attack ever since the fight started, and Aqua hadn’t even had a chance to think. She stuck up at Zack, slashing the keyblade up towards him, but he jumped out of reach in time. His swings strung together, weaving in and out of striking distance in one smooth motion. Aqua threw up her keyblade to guard against the next swing. His blade crashed down on hers with a clash, braking her guard. She fell to the ground, and Zach lifted his blade, preparing for one more swing to announce his victory. He aimed the blade at her and was about to declare his victory, when Aqua put her hand up. A large barrier appeared around her. 

        Zach’s blade was caught in the barrier, and flew back with him along with it. Aqua quickly got back to her feet, while Zach regained his balance. They both took up their fighting stance. Aqua’s plan had changed, she knew she couldn’t compete with Zach’s raw strength, so she would use magic to create openings, and strike then she decided. She pointed the keyblade at Zack, as flames gathered at the tip. 

        “Fira!” she yelled as the flames flew off the keyblade and at Zach. He had seen this coming though, and had jumped into the air as soon as the projectile launched. He raised his sword over his head, just as Aqua had seen earlier. She couldn’t get out of the way in time, so she threw up another barrier. His blade fell with full force onto the barrier, and shattered it, throwing Aqua back. She landed on her back, grunting in pain. This time Zack wouldn’t let her get up. She looked up dazed, as Zack stood over her, sword pointed at her. 

       “Winner: Zach!” the announcer said, and the crowd erupted again. They were unusually lively she thought to herself. When she looked up she saw Zack was smiling, offering his hand to her, and she gratefully took it, allowing him to pull her to her feet. 

        “You didn’t slack in hero training I see. A deal is a deal, so what do you get for winning?” She asked.

        “How about one date?” he asked still holding her hand.


	4. Chapter 4

        Zack had left the arena with the cheers of his fans, roses being thrown at him, and he had not let go of Aqua’s hand. She couldn’t say no, she had promised to do what he said after all. He even promised to tell her what was going on at the coliseum after their date, so she couldn’t refuse. 

        “So where to first?” he asked excitedly. 

        “I don’t know anything about this place, this is only my second time here. You lead” she said.

        “All right!” there’s this awesome ice cream place you have to try. 

        “Ice cream?” she questioned.

        “You know, that cold stuff that’s also sweet…” he tried to explain.

        Aqua stopped walking, her hand falling out of Zack’s. “I know what ice cream is… don’t we have more important things to do than get ice cream?” she asked.

        Zack’s smile flashed, the same way as it had before. “Not really, come on it will be fast anyway.” He picked up her hand and continued walking. They turned another corner, and were met by a small cart. There was a small man behind the cart, and as they approached he reached inside and pulled out two sticks of ice cream. He handed one to each of them, and they sat down at on a park bench a little ways down from the man. Everything was strangely where it needed to be, thought Aqua. 

        Zack eagerly watched Aqua, waiting for her reaction to the ice cream. She gingerly stuck her tongue and licked the cold treat. It was first salty, and then sweet. 

        “It’s good” she said. Zack looked happy and licked his own ice cream. 

        “Nothing beats sea salt ice cream after a match” he said excitedly.

        “Sea salt, huh?” she said. It was good, she wanted her friends to taste it. Suddenly Zack got up and started doing squats.

        “What are you doing?” she asked. 

        “Ah sorry bad habit” he said as he continued to do squats. 

        Aqua laughed. Zack also started to laugh, making him stop doing the squats. Maybe this is what I needed Aqua thought. A nice break. Staying like this… it would be nice she thought.

        While Zack was busy laughing he started to drop his ice cream. As it slipped from his fingers Aqua leaned forward and grabbed it saving it from the ground. She leaned back up and extended it out to Zack. 

        “Thank you” he said, looking her in the eyes as he took it from her. Their fingers touched and Aqua looked away, her face red. “You’re welcome” she quickly said, licking the ice cream again. It felt even colder now.


	5. Chapter 5

        They sat in the bench in silence, neither had the courage to look at the other, and continued to eat their ice cream, hands held between them.

        Eventually they both finished their ice cream. Aqua looked at her stick. It said winner. She turned and asked Zack what it meant. 

        “Winner huh? Don’t know I have never seen it before. Lets go ask the old man.” He said standing up. As he stood up Aqua noticed a familiar shape behind him. Two round spheres, on top of a larger sphere.  
“Mickey!” she yelled diving at the figure. She reached out to touch it, and it was cool as stone. It was stone. Zack gave a slight chuckle. 

        “Oh those things? I have no idea what they are, but they are all over town.”

        The two continued back down the street, looking for the ice cream vender. He wasn’t where he was before, so the couple looked around town for him. They held hands and talked about things. Stupid things, funny things, boring things, ordinary things, anything. 

        Suddenly Aqua remembered Zack’s promise. 

        “When we first met, didn’t you say we would go on a date after you became a hero?” she asked him. Zack turned to look at her, and his face froze in shock.

        “You’re… you’re going back…” he said. Aqua didn’t know what he meant until she looked down at their hands. Her hand was transparent.

        “Zack what’s going on, whats happening to me?” She called out in panic. He seemed to know what was going on, and was calm, a warm look on his face. He reached down and took the ‘winner’ stick from her hand. 

        “I’ll hold onto this until you come back, but don’t rush. You got that?”

        “Zack, what’s going on?” she asked again, a bit less panicked seeing Zack’s oddly calm behavior.

        “It’s not your time yet” he said. Aqua’s vison was filling with white. She could see barley see Zack lean in and feel a faint sensation on her lips. She closed her eyes and tried to enjoy it, memorize each and every one of its small details. Its contrast to the cold of the ice cream, the small cuts and missing bits from the lips, the faint taste smell of sweat. When she opened her eyes her vision was completely white. She could still sense Zack’s presence, but not see him. 

        “Hey if you happen to see a guy with the same sword as me, tell him I say hi” A voice requested from beyond the white. She nodded. And then she couldn’t feel him anymore.


	6. Chapter 6

        Aqua blinked the whiteness away. She was staring up at a blue sky, and could hear the ocean around her. In front of her were Terra and Ventus, both calling out her name.

        “Ven… Terra” she said. Then she blinked again and they were gone. In front of her were two boys. 

        “Aqua” they both said. She turned to her side and saw Mickey, the real King Mickey.

        “Thank goodness. You’re awake!”

        “Mickey…” she said, still in shock. “Are these… the destiny islands?”

        “That’s right.” Mickey nodded.

        “When did they fall to darkness?” Aqua asked, the gaps in her memory making her confused.

        The boy in front of her shook his head. She recognized this boy. It was on the one her and Mickey had saved from the realm of darkness.

        “You’re in the realm of light” he said.

        Then everything clicked. Where she was. Where she had been. Where she had gone. And the tears started to flow.


End file.
